The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke
by Theodore Roethke
List Price:
Our Price: $7.74
You Save: $8.26 (52%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.80 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Theodore RoethkeEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1975-01-10
ISBN: 0385086016
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Anchor
Book Reviews of The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke
Book Review: A Blaze of Being
Summary: 5 Stars
"A late rose ravages the casual eye," writes Roethke in A Walk in Late Summer, "a blaze of being on a central stem." In such images we see the symbols of nature fully tapped in modern poetry -- and tapped in American English, in fresh, vivid language that overpowers the reader with its grace and presence. The poetry of Theodore Roethke is written by a man profoundly alive -- skirting the edge of suicide, losing his voice in the awe of love, reeling wildly in the throes of "the pure fury," and looking at last with calm eyes into infinity and his own undoing in the Far Field. Roethke was a true descendent of Whitman where the latter wrote "This is no book / Who touches this touches a man." But Roethke's poetry moves us as much by its lyrical language as by the power and wisdom of its experience. Roethke himself was, as represented by his art alone, a "blaze of being."
Among Roethke's contributions to literature are his poems that treat depression. Far from letting his manic episodes paralyze him, he used them to write some his most intense poetry. "In a Dark Time" is one of the immortal poems of the 20th century, worthy to be set aside a Van Gogh painting. Roethke was not alone in treating these subjects: two other Pulitzer Prize-winning poets of his time, Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton, learned from him and wrote about similar themes. But Roethke's writing stands out in two ways from these poets and other poets the 50's and 60's.
One is the unity of his work and vision -- this Collected Poems traces a single spiritual journey beginning with his childhood memories of the greenhouse, and ending somewhere among "the windy cliffs of forever", last visions tragically cut short by his early death. Between those points are rendered all of the experiences of his life -- as he wrote in his first poem, "my heart keeps open-house." But he never fails to interpret these experiences and understand their significance in the larger picture of his life and poetry. Unlike so much of the poetry of Sylvia Plath and other Confessional poets, Roethke never demands that you read his biography to understand his symbolism. Rather, his symbols develop among his poems to form a kind of mythology: his recurring symbols include stones, fire, light, "the small," and the spirit.
The other difference between Roethke and other poets of his time is his technique. Roethke is never obscure; he always writes in fresh language, avoiding cliches, although his symbols are indeed personal and take time to understand. Roethke's craft is "strict and pure," such that even the staunchest defenders of Sylvia Plath have confessed that Roethke's writing is more disciplined. The Deep Image movement of poets like Robert Bly and James Wright is influenced by the kind of symbolism found throughout Roethke's poetry, and those writers have acknowledged their debt to him. Roethke retained rhyme and meter in a time when all the conventions of poetry were being ripped apart; and he did so with a consummate technical skill not to be found in the Beatniks or in the Black Mountain poets. Roethke's ear for poetry is much more sensitive than that of other poets of his time. We are gagged by the lyricism in lines like
"She came toward me in the flowing air,
A shape of change, encircled by its fire."
("The Dream")
"When all
My waterfall
Fancies sway away
From me, in the sea's silence..."
("Her Time")
"O love, you who hear
The slow tick of time
In your sea-buried ear..."
("Song")
The most exhilarating of all these are Roethke's love poems in "Words for the Wind", which justly won the Bollingen Prize and the National Book Award. These poems are unmatched for eloquence and spiritual intensity -- and it's a damn shame that modern anthologies do not reprint them, aside from the famous "I Knew a Woman." For it is in these love poems that Roethke's soul soars, and his poetic power is fully realized.
"She knew the grammar of least motion."
("The Dream")
"Light listened when she sang."
("Light Listened")
"I measure time by how a body sways."
("I Knew a Woman").
Theodore Roethke achieved greatness in art by having the courage to confront the most intense human experiences and the skill to craft them into some of the most eloquent poems of his time. If there is ONE modern poet you will read, let it be Roethke. His "Collected Poems" is a must for every poet and every lover of poetry.
Summary of The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke
This paperback edition contains the complete text of Roethke's seven published volumes plus sixteen previously uncollected poems. Included are his Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners The Walking, Words for the Wind, and The Far Field.Poetry Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Poetry Books
FOUR QUARTETS.by T. S. Eliot
Faber & Faber; Published: 1944; Hardcover; Book
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyamby Omar Khayyam
St. Martin's Press; Published: 1983-08-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops:
The Priapus Poems: EROTIC EPIGRAMS FROM ANCIENT ROMEUniversity of Illinois Press; Published: 1999-05-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $180.00
Beowulfby Seamus Heaney
Penguin Books; Published: 2000-09-28; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $14.90
Void of Course (Poets, Penguin)by Jim Carroll
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1998-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.94
Price in other shops:
Speaking of Siva (Penguin Classics)by Anonymous
Penguin Classics; Published: 1973-08-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.67
Price in other shops:
A Night Without Armor : Poemsby Jewel
It Books; Published: 1999-08-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.80
Price in other shops:
Given Sugar, Given Salt: Poemsby Jane Hirshfield
Harper Perennial; Published: 2002-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.46
Price in other shops:
Letters Home: Correspondence 1950-1963by Sylvia Plath
Harper Perennial; Published: 1992-04-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.01
Price in other shops:
Yeats Folklore and Occultismby Frank Kinahan
Unwin Hyman; Published: 1988-10; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
On Poetry and Craftby Theodore Roethke
Copper Canyon Press; Published: 2001-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.06
Price in other shops:
Wild Irisby Louise Gluck
Ecco; Published: 1993-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.90
Price in other shops:
The Complete Poems: Anne Sextonby Anne Sexton
Mariner Books; Published: 1999-04-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.15
Price in other shops:
Making Certain It Goes On: The Collected Poems of Richard Hugoby Richard Hugo
W. W. Norton & Company; Published: 1991-07-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.42
Price in other shops:
The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevensby Wallace Stevens
Vintage; Published: 1990-02-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.75
Price in other shops:
Detroit Noir (Akashic Noir)Akashic Books; Published: 2007-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops:
How They Were Foundby Matt Bell
Keyhole Press; Published: 2010-10-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.75
Price in other shops:
True Northby Jim Harrison
Grove Press; Published: 2005-07-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.21
Price in other shops:
Straw for the Fire: From the Notebooks of Theodore Roethkeby Theodore Roethke
Copper Canyon Press; Published: 2006-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.62
Price in other shops:
Collected Poemsby Philip Larkin
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 2004-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.30
Price in other shops: